Pump



Patented Aug. 25, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PUMP Glenn J. Smith, Plymouth, Mich.

Application February 19, 1941, Serial No. 379,555

2 Claims. (Cl. 103-115) .invention residing in the arrangement, combination and construction of parts will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the annexed claims.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is an elevation view of a pump partly shown in broken cross section,

shaft 46, which passes through suitable bearings 48 and 5|! and has connected to its lower end in driving relation an impeller 52 of novel design. as will be hereinafter described. It will be understood that the function of the impeller 52 upon rotation is to draw fluid through the inlet 28 and 4 by centrifugal action discharge the same through Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the impeller removed from its operating shaft,

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of Fig. 2, taken on the line III-III, and

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the impeller taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2

The construction shown in Fig. 1 is particularly designed as a sump pump but it is only my desire to limit the same to any particular, field or use. As shown an electric motor I0 is supported upon a suitable bracket I2, which is preferably of cast construction, with a seat portion M to receive a suitable thrust bearing l6. Cast integral with the bracket I2 is a semi-circular socket l8 with which a removable cap 20, which may likewise be of cast construction, co-acts to provide a socket in which the pipe 22 constituting a standard is clamped through bolts 24.

Where the pump is to be vertically supported in a sump, for example, a base 24 of openwork cast construction is provided having an inlet 26. To the base 24 is secured, by cap screws 28, a cast impeller housing 30, having an outlet 32 to which a suitable conduit may be connected for conducting the liquid away from the impeller housing. Supported upon the impeller housing 30 is a bearing housing 34 which is preferably of cast construction and includes as an integral part thereof a semi-circular socket part 36 to which a cap portion 38 is removably secured by bolts -40 for clamping the lower end of the pipe standard 22. I a

A flexible drive coupling 42 connects the motor shaft 44 with the elongated stainless steel drive the outlet 32.

Where the operation of the pump is to be automatic, as in the case where the pump is used to control the water level in a sump, a float actuated switch 54 is operated through the raising and lowering of the float 56 upon the guide rod 58 and the engagement with stops 60 and 62, all in a well known manner and forming no part of the present invention.

The design of the impeller, shown in detail in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, is responsible for the increased capacity of my improved pump over constructions now in use, using the same amount of power. In addition to the high capacity of the impeller shown, it has been found that it can be used with considerable satisfaction in pumps designed to remove wash water from home laundries in basements where it is necessary because of the lack of sewerage systems to pump the laundry water from the basement and dispose the same upon the surface of the ground. It has been found in practice that impellers of the construction about to be described do not clog or collect lint.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the impeller 52 is preferably of cast construction and has a plurality of radial scoop portions 64 defined at the inlet end of the blades 66. The arrow of Fig. 2 indicates the direction in which the impeller is driven and it will be noted that the liquid is forced through the pump through the convex walls 58 of the blades 56. As more clearly shown in Fig. 3, it will be noted that the convex wall 68 of each blade 66 is of greater axial dimension than the concave wall 10. The web 12 defined between each adjacent blade 66 has a surface 14 which is curvilinear both axially and transversely of the peller. It is to be noted that the surface" of the web 12 has a radius at I6.so that the web blends with the blade to minimize resistance and back pressure. To lighten the construction of the impeller 62 and provide clearance for the bearing portion 50, a recess is provided at 16. The pump construction herein described may be inexpensively fabricated, using sand casting throughout with a minimum amount of machining. At the same time, the pump is of large capacity and is designed to be used for lifting water and other liquids which may contain a considerable amount of foreign materials apt to clog pumps of conventional design. The design of the impeller as herein described in detail requires a minimum amount of power in its operation and is such that resistance and back pressures have been materially reduced over that of conventional impeller designs.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An impeller for centrifugal pumps, comprising a plurality of radially spaced blades of concavo-convexo shape, the front faces of the blades with reference to the direction of rotation being convex, and axially and transversely inclined webs between said blades so located with reference to the front and rear faces of adjacent blades that the front face of each blade greater area than the concave rear face.

2. An impeller for centrifugal pumps. comprising a plurality of radially spaced blades, radially converging from the periphery of the impeller to a point adjacent the axis thereof to provide radial passages for fluid being pumped, said blades being of concavo-convexo shape having front and rear faces parallel to the axis of rotation, the front faces with reference to the direction of rotation being convexed and the rear faces concaved, and web portions between adjacent blades sloping from the axis of rotation toward the periphery of the impeller and from the concave face to the convex face of adjacent blades.

GLENN J. SMITH. 

